Don’t miss Judy Russell at Lakeland seminar

I cannot shout this loudly enough: If you attend only one genealogy program in your life, make it Judy Russell’s April 12 seminar at the Imperial Polk Genealogical Society.

If you register before the date, admission is $40 for society members and $45 for nonmembers. Walk-ins will have to dish out $50. If these prices seem steep, remember it includes a continental breakfast, a box lunch and four hours of blissfully listening to Judy.

Have I mentioned that I may be her biggest fan? Seriously, folks, Judy is a board-certified genealogist with a law degree, a wonderful sense of humor and more genealogical savvy than most of us will ever have.

She received the Walter Lee Sheppard Jr. Prize in Advanced Methodology, bestowed annually upon genealogists who demonstrate sound practices and exceptional potential. Candidates for the award are drawn from the Advanced Research Methodology and Evidence Analysis track at Samford University’s Institute of Genealogy and Historical Research (IGHR) in Birmingham, Ala. She has since become a member of the faculty of the IGHR and the Genealogical Research Institute of Pittsburgh.

Her topics for the Polk County event are “Dowered or Bound Out: Records of Widows and Orphans”; “Staying Out of Trouble — the Rights and Responsibilities of Today’s Genealogists”; “Where There Is — or Isn’t – a Will”; and “No Vitals? No Problem! Building a Family Through Circumstantial Evidence.”

The seminar will be in the Family Ministries Auditorium B of the Highland Park Church of the Nazarene, 4477 Lakeland Highlands Road, Lakeland. The program starts at 9 a.m. and concludes at 4 p.m.

❖ ❖ ❖

If any of your ancestors were accused of being witches, the May program of the Daughters of the American Revolution probably will be of particular interest to you.

Al Tillson of the University of Tampa’s history department will present “Witches in American History” at the group’s May 2 meeting. The program will be in Austin Hall on the university campus at 401 W. Kennedy Blvd. The meeting will begin at 11 a.m. For details, contact Frances Nettles at pooh1314@verizon.net

❖ ❖ ❖

Heads up, South Carolina researchers. Prolific abstractor Brent H. Holcomb has another book hot off the presses. This one is “South Carolina’s State Grants, Volume II: Grant Books 7 Through 11,1785-1786.”

The book includes more than 2,900 grants statewide, with concentration in Pendleton and Greenville counties, which were newly opened for settlement. Some of the grants were for land surveyed as colonial land but granted after the Revolution.

The 265-page hardcover book sells for $35 plus $5 shipping. Researchers can order the book directly from Holcomb at P.O. Box 21766, Columbia, SC 29221.

Holcomb’s other South Carolina books are available for purchase at www.scmar.com.

❖ ❖ ❖

Tampa Chapter 113 United Daughters of the Confederacy will observe Confederate Memorial Day on Saturday at Woodlawn Cemetery, 3412 Ola Ave., Tampa. Following the 9:30 a.m. program, attendees will reconvene for a business meeting and lunch at the Columbia Restaurant, 2117 E. Seventh Ave., Ybor City. Reservations are required for lunch. For information, contact Frances Nettles at pooh1314@verizon.net.

Sharon Tate Moody is a board-certified genealogist. Send your genealogical methodology questions and event announcements to her at stmoody0720@mac.com. She regrets she is unable to assist with personal research and cannot respond to requests for locating or researching individuals. Past Heritage Hunting columns are available online at tbo.com, search words “Sharon Tate Moody.